Cellphones in Pop Culture

Motorola's Martin Cooper used a DynaTAC phone prototype to make the first mobile call in April 1973. Since that day 40 years ago, the ubiquitous cellphone has made its way to everyday consumers and cemented its place in pop culture.

April 3, 2013 12:55 p.m. ET

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Capt. James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner, used a communicator—not quite a cellphone, but pretty close in this futuristic-themed television show—to contact the starship Enterprise in an episode of 'Star Trek,' which aired from 1966 to 1969.
Paramount/Everett Collection…

Financial wheeler-dealer Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, used a brick-like cellphone on a beach in the 1987 movie 'Wall Street.'
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection…

Businessman Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere, used a cellphone as he sat in a park with prostitute Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts, in the 1990 movie 'Pretty Woman.'
Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection…

Privileged Beverly Hills girls Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, and Dionne, played by Stacey Dash, chatted on cellphones at school in the 1995 movie 'Clueless.'
Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection…

James Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, kept in the loop on his cellphone even as he cuddled up to a lady in 1997's 'Tomorrow Never Dies.'
United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection…

Mother and daughter Meg Altman, played by Jodie Foster, and Sarah Altman, played by Kristen Stewart, hoped a cellphone would provide a lifeline as criminals awaited them outside their safe room in 2002's 'Panic Room.'
Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection…

New York writer Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, clutched a pink cellphone as she walked down a street on the final day of filming for the TV show 'Sex and the City,' which aired from 1998 to 2004.
Erik C. Pendzich/Rex Features/Everett Collection…

Bradley Cooper's character Phil and his friends used a cellphone to refresh their memories about what they did during a wild bachelor party in Thailand in the 2011 comedy 'The Hangover: Part II.'
Warner Bros./Everett Collection…